State senator seeks to lease land to Dominion for wind turbine project; ethics council OKs move

VIRGINIA BEACH — A vacant lot near Naval Air Station Oceana that is owned by a state senator could soon become a temporary laydown area for Dominion Energy’s $10 billion wind farm project off the coast.

London Bridge Development LLC, owned by Sen. Bill DeSteph, is seeking a conditional use permit from the city for a bulk storage yard on London Bridge Road, between Potters Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard.

The Virginia Beach Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the application Wednesday. The City Council will vote on it soon.

The 18-acre site was previously home to London Bridge Commerce Center and contained several commercial buildings.

In 2011, the city bought the commerce center for $6 million, more than twice as much as the city assessment, to protect the airbase from commercial development. The money came from state funds provided to Virginia Beach, according to the city. The buildings on the site were later torn down.

In May, the Development Authority sold it to London Bridge Development LLC for $1.8 million, which included a $50,000 discount for site cleanup.

The land, which is now zoned industrial, would be used as an equipment storage area for materials related to the wind turbine project including manholes, cable reels, PVC conduit, vibratory caissons (steel piles) and transmission poles, according to the permit application. Also, vehicles including forklifts and crane trucks would be stored on the property.

Dominion Energy currently has two offshore wind turbines, which are capable of powering about 3,000 homes. The company plans to install 176 more, about 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, by the end of 2026.

Last December, when DeSteph was in the process of purchasing the land, his company was contacted by a realtor who was shopping around for a large space that Dominion could use to store material, the Republican senator said.

The electric service company is a prolific political donor to politicians across Virginia and has contributed more than $100,000 to DeSteph’s campaigns over the last decade, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

DeSteph also owns more than $250,000 of stock in Dominion Energy, according to VPAP, and he has voted on legislation that affects electric and other utilities. He said he owns several businesses which pay fees for electric service exceeding $1 million a year to Dominion Energy.

Given his many ties to the company, DeSteph sought guidance from the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council in January. The General Assembly created the ethics council, in part, to provide advice as to whether a legislator’s private interest will affect their official duties.

He inquired whether he could legally accept an offer from Dominion Energy to lease the land his business owns.

Because the lease with Dominion is not going through the state’s legislative process, DeSteph does not have a conflict, according to the ethics council, which cited the state’s Conflict of Interest Act.

“Provided this business opportunity with Dominion is not being offered in an attempt to influence you in your official duties as a Senator, there is nothing in the Act that would prohibit you from leasing the property to Dominion,” wrote the ethics council’s executive director, G. Stewart Petoe, in a letter to DeSteph dated Jan. 24.

DeSteph and Dominion both declined to disclose the amount of the lease.

One of the conditions of the application is that the laydown yard can exist for up to five years.

The city recently approved plans for construction of an office/warehouse complex on the site. DeSteph said he plans to eventually build an office/warehouse complex on the site.

Over the last several months, DeSteph’s company worked with the Virginia Beach Police Department to remove trash and illegal camps where people experiencing homelessness gathered on the property. DeSteph hired some of those individuals to help with the cleanup.

On the site Monday morning, DeSteph pointed out areas where crews found makeshift shelters in the woods near the interstate.

A man who had been living there is now a full-time employee of DeSteph’s company, helping to cleanup other sites, he said.

“I’m very proud of what we’ve done from a redevelopment standpoint but probably proudest of the fact that we were able to save one person and get him back engaged in life,” said DeSteph.

Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com